Getting here + Barca
Ayesha: This trip has been a wonderful learning experience. I have only been on a plane a couple of times, never flown internationally, never flown without my family, and have only been to three states, so you can only imagine my excitement for this trip. I was lucky enough to travel with my classmate Marina, which definitely calmed my nerves getting through the trip here, but overall I was just pumped to get to Spain. I am someone who likes to roll with the punches, and believe me there have been punches: from jet lag, long airport lines, culturally adapting, plans changing, and getting stuck on the bus the very first day, it was a lot to get used to. Getting to stay in Barcelona before we got to Menorca was so fun. Baraca is such a culturally rich city that around literally every corner there is a piece of history. Also as someone who loves walking, my lord has it been nice to be actually walkable cities. It has been fun to see the fashion and style of everyone here as well. Man have I felt out matched fashion wise while here, but it's been nice to see! I love art and fashion, and Spain has been full of it!
Sanisera Site, Menorca, Spain
Marina: When they say that the jet lag from flying across the world will hit heavy... they mean it. We landed in Barcelona at 9 a.m. and as expected we jumped right into the day. Everyone was of course exhausted but we explored that day after taking naps and all rallied for a wonderful dinner in the gothic district of Barcelona, our first dinner there. Some free time that next day allowed for us to visit the city, we ended up at the Arc de Triomf, Parc de la Ciutadella, and Pergola del Monumental all in that first day around the city. While our time in Barcelona has so far been limited, it has involved no lack of cultural appreciation; from cooking classic meals, to Cece and I getting to experience the wonderful Barcelona soccer celebrations in the middle of the city, classical foods of the spanish culture and museum visits as well of course.
Menorca (fun stuff)
Ayesha: Getting to Menorca was a bit of a challenge for me. On top of hardly flying, your girl has been on a boat exactly six times, and only for a couple of hours, not the whopping 5+ hour ferry ride on choppy waves. I got very seasick (never threw up though!), so like I said, rolling with the punches. But once I got my feet on the ground, the ferry ride was so worth it. The island is like paradise. Quiet, clean, beautiful. The people here are so nice, the food is amazing. An experience I never thought I would be able to have as a woman would be able to walk around at night with little danger, and guess what I have been able to do since being here! Since nightlife doesn't start till about 7 or 8:00 here, it's normal for people to be out in the later hours of the night, and the island is very safe, so we are able to be out with little to no issue. I love just wandering about the island with my classmates and stumbling upon things. A few nights ago me and my classmate, Cece, and I found an outdoor comedy show outside. It was 16 euros to get in, but since a road that went up a hill next to it had a good few, we just stood from afar and watched. I didn't understand a word they said, but it was very entertaining nonetheless. I definitely want to come back to this little slice of paradise one day!
Ciutadella Park, Barcelona, Spain
Marina: The food here, the kind people, the beautiful water, and the wonderful architecture of Ciutadella means we can always find something to fill the time we aren’t working. Since the ferry ride to Menorca I’m not sure there has been a day we haven't gotten gelato. A very walkable city means we have plenty of access to the historical parts of town and we are able to visit the supermarket frequently for fresh fruit, one of my highest focuses. Everything really does taste a little fresher when you’re in the middle of the Mediterranean with a lovely sunburn. Besides the food, which I could keep raving about, a lovely experience from this week was the Menorca Jazz festival, a wonderfully happy group of people with picnics appreciating live music on the beach. There's nothing quite like it and I wish it lasted longer!
Work
Ayesha: It has been interesting working with an international museum and seeing their archeology methods. I have had previous experiences with working with U of M historic library collections and taking archeological classes here at WCC, so finding what is similar and different has been an eye opening experience. I thought this kind of work was more monolithic, but I've
enjoyed learning about methods of cataloging, finding what's important, and lab/work spaces for this field over here. I also want to mention what an honor it is for us to be the first people to catalog these populations. I find it amazing that I will forever be connected to these people in such a unique way and am able to “bring them back” through our analyses. I have never been able to work on one kind of population for research, so its been interesting to start noticing the patterns of skeletal development. Am I slow at the work, very! But am I learning a lot, yes! So, so, so much!
Marina: After working in the Museum of Menorca for about a week, a great field trip recently was visiting the site of Sanisera itself. My group and I have moved through a variety of skeletal remains at this point, multiple young and multiple old, knowing that much about them is humanizing in itself but nothing compares to seeing their final resting places. The location of Nec 6 is situated along the coastal cliffs, overlooking the sea. With the ocean breeze and view, as well as the greenery and sun, it made me happy for those that got to rest there as a part of their eternity. Getting to be the first ones to deal with them is an honor in itself that we take very seriously, so getting to see the Necropolis itself and just how beautiful the area is, it's been wonderful.
Our fantastic guide, Fernando Contreras, has taken great care of us and gave a very detailed tour of the sites of Sanisera. He is a true wealth of knowledge, besides being a great resource for the skeletal work we were doing in the lab or question answerer as we explore the island, I could point out any piece of bone or pottery from the site and he could tell us the age and significance with great detail. He’s our human library.
Final remarks
Ayesha: Overall, I feel so lucky to have this experience: to be here, to work on this population, to meet and spend time with my wonderful classmates. I am so glad I took this far, far leap out of my comfort zone.
Marina: I could not be more grateful to be on this trip doing this kind of work, getting this data and doing the research has been a blast for myself personally and I truly hope some exciting things can be done with the information we are collecting about the different tombs. What could be better than working at a passion on a beautiful island such as this one.
Tags: Study Abroad